Water Dumped on Suffs’ Heads

Speaking from soap boxes in the street wasn’t an activity without its risks, as is noted by this June 30, 1914New York Times article about an associate of my grandmother, Martha Klatschken, who had cold water dumped on her head when she was out advocating for Votes for Women at Twelfth Street and Avenue B in NYC.

With the observance of Martin Luther King Day this week, there’s also an awareness of other civil rights movements in the U.S., including the woman’s suffrage movement.

2 responses to “Water Dumped on Suffs’ Heads”

This is an interesting story about what the women had to go through. And the photo of Elisabeth Freeman on the soapbox is terrific. I didn’t realize that they actually carried soap boxes into the street. And the story of one woman having water dumped on her head when speaking from a soapbox is terrific. Good thing it wasn’t more serious. Both boys and girls should know about this part of American history. When I started reading this blog, I came away with one reaction among many…I had no idea!